The content of this site is protected by Copyscape. Please do not use any of the site's content without the express permission of the author. For more information, click on the banner below.

Insomnia:
General Overview of a Debilitating Disorder

Insomnia is one of
the most common sleeping
disorders known to man, and is thought to affect millions and millions
of people worldwide each year. If you sometimes have difficulties
falling asleep or remaining asleep throughout the night, there is a
high chance you are suffering from some form of this sleeping
disorder.

While
not dangerous by itself, this disorder can lead to worsening
sleep deprivation, which in turn can cause a whole series
of different
health problems. Don't underestimate the effects
of insomnia on your health. Therefore, it is important to
understand the signs and
what causes this disorder, as this is important in either effectively
managing or treating it.

This
disorder covers a wide range of disturbances to sleeping patterns,
including the inability to fall asleep (latent sleep onset) or the
inability to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. It can also
include waking up too
early, the inability to fall back asleep once
awake (even in the middle of the night), and a lack of refreshing sleep
that results in waking
up feeling incredibly tired even after a full
night's sleep.

What
Causes Insomnia?

This
disorder is categorized into two different forms. Primary insomnia
is that which is unrelated
to any other physical or psychological
disorder, while secondary insomnia is where the sleep
patterns are
disturbed as a result of various
health problems, taking certain
medication, stress, depression, pain, etc.

Some
conditions known to
cause this secondary form include arthritis, asthma, cancer, anxiety
disorders, bi-polar disorder, and many others.

Furthermore, this sleeping
disorder is also categorized based on how
long the sleep disturbances occur. When the problems only
last for a
few weeks or less, it is considered acute insomnia. While chronic
insomnia refers to sleeping problems that last for longer periods,
possibly even permanently without proper help and treatment.

On
the other hand, chronic
insomnia is usually related to persistent
pain, anxiety
disorders,
depression,
and stress,
while acute causes of insomnia are more likely
to be caused by one of the other factors listed above.

Symptoms
of Insomnia

Most
people can probably guess what the most common insomnia symptoms
are, as anyone who has ever had a lack of sleep has most likely
experienced at least a few of these symptoms. When the problem first
begins, the individual will begin to feel incredibly tired or fatigued
immediately upon waking up, usually no matter how many hours they were
able to sleep.

One of the most common symptoms of insomnia is the inability to fall
asleep, even when the person feels absolutely exhausted. A
lack of
sleep will also lead to irritability and can make it much more
difficult to pay attention or concentrate, making even the simplest or
most mundane of tasks seem incredibly difficult all of a sudden.

The longer the sleeping
problems persist, the more sleep deprived the
individual will become. This will worsen the other symptoms of insomnia
listed above, and can also lead to other, more serious mental
problems.

With
severe
insomnia, when a person begins to become dangerously sleep
deprived, they may even begin to become quite paranoid or
have vivid
dreams or hallucinations
while awake.

In
fact, in these cases the brain
often shows patterns similar to REM sleep while being awake when
connected to an EEG machine.

All of these insomnia symptoms are usually quite easy to diagnose, but
the problem remains of trying to determine exactly what is causing the
disorder in the first place. Sometimes it can be attributed to an
imbalance of the body's 'sleep hormones' called melatonin
and serotonin.

How
Is Insomnia Diagnosed?

If
you constantly feel tired, fatigued, and find it difficult to
concentrate while at work or school, you just might be suffering from
insomnia, and may need
to seek professional help in order to help you find proper
and working remedies
for insomnia. Most people who suffer from this sleeping
disorder are fully
aware of it, as they understand this is what is causing their inability
to fall asleep or stay asleep.

However, a smaller
percentage of people suffering from this disorder remain completely unaware of it.
These are the more rare cases where the disorder doesn't actually stop
a person from sleeping, but instead results in a less than adequate
quality of sleep. Some people with this disorder are still able to fall
asleep normally and remain asleep throughout the night, yet wake up feeling like they haven't
slept at all.

In order to seek medical help for treating or managing your sleeping
disorder, you will first need to make an appointment to see your doctor
to discuss your symptoms and sleeping patterns.

Your
doctor may ask you
to keep a sleep journal
for several weeks that details exactly what
time you fell asleep, how long you stayed asleep, and for how many
hours, if any, you woke up during the night. They will usually also
want to know how you felt upon waking, i.e. groggy, fatigued,
refreshed, etc.

This sleep journal will help the
sleep specialist to better under your
sleeping patterns and habits, so they can try to diagnose what is
causing the problems. They will also take a close look at your medical
history and any medications you are currently taking to see if there is
anything there that might be contributing to the problem.

Finally,
you may eventually have to undergo
a sleep study, where you
will be required to spend a night in a sleep lab connected to many
different machines that monitor your bodily functions. They will
especially be looking at your brain waves to try to spot any
disturbances in your sleeping patterns.

In
recent years, insomnia
research has improved a great deal, and the condition can be
treated successfully no matter how severe it might be.

All of this should help give the doctor a better idea of exactly what
is causing your sleeping problems. Once they feel they better
understand your condition, they will then tailor a plan to suit your
needs. This
could include any number of treatment methods, although
cognitive
behavioral therapy is now starting to become one of the
most
common methods used to treat patients suffering from this and other
sleeping disorders.